Wednesday, November 5, 2014

WEEKLY COMMENTARY: What To Do About Iraq's Persecuted Christians?

Recently, several of my friends have expressed frustration that the
PC(USA) seems silent on the violent persecution of Christians in Iraq, Syria and
other places in the Middle East. They cite statements by Pope Francis and other
leaders voicing concern that in Arab lands religious intolerance is on
the rise ---- but my friends say they do not find leaders in the PC(USA) being
similarly quoted in the media.

Frankly, what can the PC(USA) actually do? While some people would
like to see our political leaders use armed force to protect the threatened
Christians, President Obama has made it clear that there will be no "boots on
the ground" from the U.S. Therefore, for many of the challenged Christians,
they will need to remove themselves to a safer place ---- perhaps to a different
country.

I recently read a story in TheInternational New York Times
entitled "Mosul's Christians find shelter in Jordan." The story told of three
Christian families from the area around Mosul, Iraq, who had fled to Jordan,
forced out by Islamic State (ISIS) fighters who had given them little choice.
After capturing the city last June, these militants had given the Christians one
day to make up their minds: convert to Islam, pay a tax, or be killed.
TheTimes said that over 4,000 Iraqi Christians from Mosul had
come to Jordan in the past three months.

Interestingly. TheTimes says that King Abdullah II of
Jordan, a close American ally, has made the need for the continued presence of
multiple religions in the Middle East a major talking point in recent years.
But King Abdullah has done more than just talk! When the Islamic State
(ISIS) stormed into Mosul, the Jordanian government threw open their country to
Iraq's Christians despite rising tensions at home over waves of Syrian refugees
whose presence has increasingly burdened ill-prepared Jordanian
communities.

The article in TheInternational New York Times went on to
say that hundreds of the new and often traumatized Christian refugees now live
in community halls in seven churches in Amman and nearby Zarga, trying hard to
make do in places with little privacy or even enough necessities like toilets.
Many of the other Christian refugees are living several families to a home,
paying rent with their own money or with aid from international charitable
organizations. Many more are crammed into refugee camps in Jordan, Turkey and
Lebanon.

Besides providing shelter, various local churches feed the refugees with
hearty portions of rice and vegetables paid for by the churches and by foreign
charitable organizations. However, the latest Christian arrivals are not
allowed to work in Jordan. This is an attempt to ensure they do not stay
indefinitely in a country that previously granted citizenship to a large
population of displaced Palestinians. Mostly, says The Times, displaced
Christians appear haunted by the abrupt end to their lives in Iraq and to a
Christian tradition that had survived in Mosul for more than 1,700 years.

So, is the PC(USA) actually doing anything to aid these displaced
Christians? The answer is YES. It is not big, eye-catching, headline-fetching
work ---- instead it is to provide resources and leadership on the "ground"
level. PC(USA) facilitates more of a "people-to-people" approach. Here is an
example:

Last August, members of CPC's "Members In Mission" Team, hosted a luncheon
meeting with Greg and Chris Callison, PC(USA) missionaries based in northern
Iraq. They were on home leave and visiting some twenty East Coast Presbyterian
churches to tell the story of their Iraq outreach and to raise money to further
their efforts to support displaced Christians. Their story was
compelling.

The CPC Mission Team voted to give an unplanned $1,000 outright, and an
additional sum to PC(USA) headquarters to help fund the Callison's pensions and
travel expenses. This is a small sum, but if all 20 churches did the same, the
total would go far in the Middle East.

The Callisons are each ordained Presbyterian ministers who have served in
Iraq for several years, They are in their fifties, and are husband and wife.
Not only are they fluent in the Arabic language, but it was clear from their
luncheon presentation that their hearts are really into this difficult (and
sometimes dangerous) Christian-to-Christian, person-to-person support
work.

The Callisons said they hoped that each of the churches they were to
visit on the East Coast would support the Callison's work with some kind of
direct financial grant. The Callisons said they realized that the PC(USA) in
Louisville was already overwhelmed with financial requests from worthy causes
---- to fight poverty, cure disease, etc., and to tell the story of Jesus, all
in a very needy world.

The CPC Mission Team was touched by this person-to-person relief effort by
the Callisons as PC(USA) missionaries. It seemed to touch our hearts more
deeply than just voting to write a check to Louisville. The CPC Mission Team
continues to look for more person-to-person opportunities to carry Christ's
message, whether at home or overseas.